Assorted lumps of coal

Let me start, first of all, by wishing everyone a happy holiday season and a happy and prosperous new year.

Let me follow that, though, by saying that in my very humble opinion whoever invented the term “politically correct” was an idiot.

(If that offends anyone, I’m deeply sorry).

What I think is what I think and what I believe is what I believe, and anyone who dismisses my thoughts and beliefs as politically correct is merely saying those thoughts and beliefs run counter to his/her thoughts and beliefs. The PC thing is simply a label and a weapon — and a stupid one.

As for the flip side, people who proudly label themselves as politically incorrect, like HBO’s Bill Maher, are really saying “I’m better and smarter than the rest of you.” Pure arrogance.

With this in mind, let me proceed with my No Class lumps of coal:

Sunday, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield saw fit to once again taunt former Browns head coach and current Cincinnati Bengals assistant Hue Jackson during Cleveland’s 26-18 victory over its divisional and downstate rival. 

Hey, Baker, you already did that — the first time the Browns beat the Bengals this season.

Obviously, I don’t know Hue Jackson. He obviously was a failure as Cleveland’s head coach, and he was extremely unpopular there.

But sportsmanship and class are not political correctness. They’re just sportsmanship and class, and Baker Mayfield is bereft of both.

After the game, Mayfield coyly denied having taunted Jackson on the Bengals sideline. When told the video of him doing just that was going viral, he said, “That’s all right, we won.”

As if winning justifies everything.

Next, there’s Jon “Bones” Jones.

Jones, in the opinion of most the best MMA fighter in the world, once again finds himself in the maelstrom of controversy. Not only is he being allowed to fight Alexander Gustafsson on Saturday despite for a second time having tested positive for the same banned substance, he once again was drawn into a war of words with former adversary Daniel Cormier. 

Jones to Cormier: “I could slap your wife on the ass and you could literally do nothing about it.”

Well, OK. As kids, we all used to bring family members into our little tiffs: So’s your old man, your mama, etc, etc. 

But we’re not kids any more. Right, Jon? If you must engage with Cormier on social media, don’t bring his wife into it — and definitely not in such a no-class way.

Yet, regarding the stunning events of Sunday — the transfer of UFC 232 from Las Vegas to Los Angeles in response to Jones’ second positive test for the steroid Turinabol — I’m moved to defend Jones against the legion of no-class social-media detractors who are calling him a drug cheat. 

People are free to believe what they want, and they will. But there is no concrete evidence that Jones has ever intentionally ingested a performance-enhancing drug. 

There is, in fact, evidence to the contrary.

In 2016, Jones was suspended for one year after testing positive for estrogen blockers clomiphene and letrozole. This was found to be consistent with Jones’ explanation that he’d used a sex-enhancement product. While opting to suspend him, calling his use of the product careless and reckless, an arbitration panel stated the following: 

“On the evidence before the Panel, the Applicant is not a drug cheat. He did not know that the tablet he took contained prohibited substances or that those substances had the capacity to enhance sporting performance.”

In July 2017, Jones tested positive for Turinabol. But both the tiny amount of the substance detected and the timing of the positive test had the United States Anti-Doping Agency scratching its collective head. It simply made no sense that Jones, or anyone, would ingest such a small amount — useless in terms of enhancing performance — so near in time to a fight. In the buildup to Jones’ fight with Cormier in July 2017, Jones had tested negative multiple times. To take effect, steroids require time to build in the body.

Jones nevertheless was suspended for 15 months, again because, no matter how much and how it got there, he was deemed responsible for what was in his body.

And now? The level of Turinabol found in Jones’ body is again so minute  that USADA has concluded this was not a result of another ingestion, intentional or otherwise, by Jones. It has been described as a “pulsing” of the original ingestion detected in 2017. 

Impossible, howl the critics. Drug cheat!

Yet, how many of those howling critics know the science? USADA does.

There has always been a lot not to like about Jon Jones. In the past, on multiple occasions, he has acted irresponsibly, foolishly, even illegally.

But drug cheat? 

Not proven.

To label him as such, in the face of that evidence to the contrary, is a no-class move.

The UFC’s decision to move UFC 232 from Vegas to L.A. with less than a week’s notice has infuriated many, especially those who’d already made travel plans and lodging arrangements. And many of those people are lashing out at Jones.

Not his decision, folks. Not his fault.